


Five public places

by Tyrelingkitten



Series: Stages of Love challenge [1]
Category: EXO [band], EXOPlanet
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Boy Band, Band Fic, Bandom - Freeform, Community: stagesoflove, Drabble Collection, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Gen Fic, M/M, RPF, Romantic Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-16
Updated: 2012-09-16
Packaged: 2017-11-14 08:33:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/513317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tyrelingkitten/pseuds/Tyrelingkitten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kris meets Lay at various public places and is sort of being both flaily and full of fail. (... maybe?)</p><p>For the stagesoflove community challenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five public places

**Author's Note:**

> Theme: #11 Five public places, park
> 
> My first time entering this fandom. :3

**Too orange, park  
**

 

Kris remembered meeting Yixing in autumn. Red, gold and orange-brown leaves had fluttered from the branches, littering the pavement and the benches of the park Kris was asked to meet up. At that time Yixing’s arm had been in a sling, the result of a fight for a friend of a friend, Lu Han, Kris happened to be acquainted with. Kris did not know the details other than hearing Lu Han fussing, “Yixing, you idiot, fractured bones…” It must have been a real nasty fight from the looks of those dark bruises marring Yixing’s pale face.    
  
  
Yixing had only smiled in response, the skin of his right cheek indenting deeply. The smile should not have been attractive considering the state Yixing was in. But Kris’s throat went unexpectedly dry. In his mind, he was convincing himself that it was because he was thirsty, autumn days were dry, and his allergies must be acting up.  
  
  
Or maybe the park was too orange for his eyes; the leaves were really heaping up nicely around the area anyway—blurring his distinction between colors from dark purple to romantic sepia of the skin. Yixing dimpled at him during their brief introduction. It was enough for Kris to consider getting his eyes checked.

 

 

 

**Too dark, movie theater**

 

The scent of lavender was overpowering.

Kris looked around for the source, his face already scrunched up in distaste. He didn’t have any problems with lavender—it has a fresh kind of smell which he often associated with home, his mother’s bathroom—but the scent somehow managed to dominate the smell of tobacco and salty popcorn. Kris suppressed his urge to gag.  
  
It was an old lady in her fifties sitting behind him who wore the near fatal nausea-inducing perfume. Kris stood up to take five seats further away on his right, escaping the tendrils of flower scents. Safe at last.

It didn’t take long before the theater buzzed with low chatter and laughter and lots of human bodies that Kris was reminded again why he hardly went to the movies in the first place.     
  
Five minutes before the movie began; the lighting was dimmed gently into a soft yellow glow. Not too bright for him to squint at the other moviegoers stepping over his long feet to find their seats. Not too dark to miss Kris’s long legs propped close to the seat in front of him. Kris felt relieved far too early when someone kicked his shin— _hard_ —and tumbled across his lap with popcorn and cold beverage spilling all over him.  
  
Kris jerked up from his seat with an annoyed “YAH! Watch it!” and pushed the culprit off. He looked down at the wet spot seeped into his jeans and the end of his new white shirt, hissed in frustration and glared at the culprit. “Idiot! Look what you did to my new shirt!”

“I’m very sorry. I was just looking for empty seats. And—Look, I’ll pay for the cleaning.”

Kris realized belatedly that he had heard this voice before. And he would recognize that face anywhere. And that dimple. _Yixing._ Despite looking genuinely apologetic, the awkward look Yixing was giving him should definitely not make him feel like he had dived into a sea of fluff.

“You-,” Kris only managed to utter before someone else barreled between them, pushing Kris back in his seat, saying, “Your legs are in the way, Kris.” _Lu Han_ was here, Kris realized _._ “You’re not allowed to bully Yixing with that face of yours.” Lu Han added, gently nudging Yixing forward to walk ahead.

The theater suddenly fell dark and the screen opened to the new season movie trailers.

Feeling both unhappy and strangely exhilarated, Kris sighed and slumped in his seat. He could not bring himself to watch the movie with any sort of interest, too busy bemoaning about his ruined attire and reliving the moment he was being an ass towards Yixing.

 

 

 

Kris felt a tap on his arm when he was about to leave his seat after finishing the movie. The one he had hardly paid any attention to as he was too busy mulling over his soaked dress shirt and sweet-smelling jeans. Kris glanced up and raised his eyebrows at Yixing. “Yes?”

“I’m very sorry about earlier…,” Yixing nibbled on his lower lip. He glanced at Kris’s eyes and then looked away with an uncomfortable smile on his face. An awkward silence settled down between them until Kris finally showed his most comforting _~~smirk~~_ —no, smile like you mean it, he admonished himself.

“It’s fine. Nothing to worry about.”

“I’ve ruined your evening.” Yixing pointed out.

Kris rolled those words around in his mind and wondered how much of his annoyance had shown the moment he got popcorn and coke spilled all over his new attire. “Not really…”

“But I tripped over your feet even though I think it’s your fault they were in the way.” Yixing blurted out.

“Like I said, it’s all fine.” Kris felt ignored as Yixing continued. “Ruined your clothes and you even had to watch the movie in those clothes. I’m very sorry.”

“Yixing, it’s okay…”

“Let me make it up to you.”

 

 

 

**Too random, carnival**

 

Yixing’s definition of making up to Kris was completely different from what he had expected. Any apologetic person would do something like buy Kris a new shirt or take his ruined clothes to the laundry service.  
Instead, Yixing brought him to some carnival and ushered him into the cooking area. Why a cooking panel? Kris couldn’t cook anything other than noodles. He lived off on take out and sandwiches anyway.  
  
“I’ve to fill in for a friend.” Yixing said in a tone as if that would explain everything. He slipped on a green apron over his clothes and surveyed the ingredients displayed over one long table with ease.  
  
“What am _I_ doing here?” Kris scratched below his elbow and the smoothed his palm across his jeans. His glance skittered to the other people nearby as they rushed between the boiling pots and the cutting board.  
  
“It’s almost Winter Solstice soon.”  
  
“Yeah?” Kris prompted.  
  
Yixing beamed. “I’m making _tāngyuán_.”  
  
Hearing the familiar words in a language Kris thought he would never hear again, he almost smiled. A faint twitch of lips. Home, Kris realized it’s been three years since he had left his parental house.  
  
“Put this on.”  
  
A pink thing met his face before he could say anything else.

[[ Winter Solstice & tangyuan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongzhi_Festival).]

 

 

 

“Seriously, why am I helping you cook this?” Kris muttered, as he spread out the rice flour dough, splashed it with water and used the pads of his fingers to knead it into one big blob shape. Standing next to him was Yixing, who was busy stirring the pot filled with boiling water.  
  
“You don’t have a choice.” Yixing said.  
  
“You’re the one who said about making it up to me.”  
  
“I’m already making food for you. What else are you expecting?”  
  
“I don’t know... maybe something along the lines of waiting for free food instead of making it myself.”  
  
“Nothing is free these days. Other than air, that is.”  
  
Kris scoffed. “Why am I making the balls here? I can’t make them with hands like these.” He made a show of spreading his sticky palms out in front of him.  
  
“Really? I think they’re perfect for the squishing part. All you have to do is press the large proportions into edible sizes.” Yixing tore a small piece from the large dough and started rolling it around between his hands and fingers until he was satisfied with the rounded shape within his grasp. He then showed his creation to Kris. “Just like this.”  
  
Kris gave him an annoyed look, his thick eyebrows knitting closely together. When he did not immediately take on the new task, Yixing repeated his demonstration again. This time with a curl of a smile, “It isn’t so hard.”  
  
The faint indent next to Yixing’s lips was persuasive enough to make Kris huff and set out to his next task. Albeit with less enthusiasm as Yixing would have wanted to; making tāngyuán was actually enjoyable. Lots of time to space out and daydream. Once Yixing was sure Kris did not need any more help, he returned his attention to stirring the boiling soup and poured in a can of sugar.  
  
After a few minutes of staring at the water’s boiling point, Kris interrupted him, “You see any progress here?”  
  
Yixing leaned in close from the side and studied the finished balls. Admittedly some were still badly formed considering the dents Kris’s fingers had made, were visible all over the round soft skin. While a few of the balls were too large to swallow by average human standards. He had not even included the part where these tāngyuán would enlarge when they swim in boiling water. But then he remembered there was no standard size for these balls, at least not the version he had learned to cook.  
  
“Seems fine. Maybe you should roll them between the palms instead of using your fingers. But all of them seems fine. In a few minutes I’d like to get them in the soup.”  
  
A ridiculous grin made its way on Kris’s always angry face.

 

 

 

 

**Too hot, pool**

 

Spring time had come and gone like a memory from days past. Summer had to make a statement this year so the sun decided it was time to turn on the heat in full blast. Hanging outside any air-conditioned room was beginning to feel like being thrown across a barbecue grill while coal embers finally picked up the heat of the fire.  
  
Kris gritted his teeth, hissing at each step, as he walked down the mosaic tiles leading to the outdoor pool. Barefooted. He regretted not bringing along a pair of slippers for the occasion. The ground was burning. Literally burning into his flesh. And he still needed to walk about a mile on these hot coals of tiles just to make it to the chair set where he and his friends had set up their swimming stuff. He did not really look forward to taking off his tee shirt and towel while playing in the water with the sun glaring down from the sky. He will wake up with nasty sunburns on his back and neck by tomorrow.  
  
But the public pools looked deep and inviting. The monster slide, the swan boat rides, free access to this large water park in the middle of an unforgiving Summer… how could he resist these? His inner kid self was filled with glee. Kris hoped the pool management had the insight of releasing ice cubes into the water that day.  
  
“Hey, Kris. Over here!” Lu Han waved enthusiastically as Kris approached. He was the reason why Kris could come along without worrying about the entrance fee. Lu Han could win any lottery tickets if he tried.  
  
With only three chairs to divide amongst a party of six people, one chair had all their bags piled up while two chairs were used for sitting. Kris tried his best not to stare at  Yixing as the latter splattered sun block across Lu Han’s pale back, looking like a kid playing sandcastles with the way he was carefully clapping his hands together and smearing the skin with careful precision.  
  
Kris sat down on the nearest available free spot, between Lu Han’s younger cousins, Tao, and Jongdae. “What took you so long?” Tao poked him as he passed Kris a grilled sausage.  
  
“Thanks. I’m starving. The ground was hot. I forgot to bring my slippers.” Kris chomped on the top, hissing when it burnt his tongue and the inside of his mouth. “Ow hothothothotmytongue.”  
He spit the piece out, stuck out his tongue and fanned it with his free hand, earning a disapproving look from Yixing and a gleeful laugh from Tao. Jongdae nearly fell off the chair, laughing. Lu Han only smirked as he took hold of Yixing’s sun block and squirted across back of the last member of their six man group.

 

 

 

Yixing bent his knees and stared into the large red tunnel when it was finally his turn to slide down to the big pool.  
  
“Get in, it’s your turn.” Kris, who was right behind him, nudged Yixing to the next plastic ring.  
  
“It’s a long way down, you know.” Yixing said in a small voice but Kris was close enough to hear the tremble.  
  
“Don’t tell me you’re also afraid of heights like Xiao Lu?”  
  
“No, I’m not… but the tunnel is really long…” Yixing bit his lip and jumped when the people in the line behind became impatient and started pushing forward.  
  
Kris sighed, jerked back to push anyone pressuring him to move forward, and then grabbed Yixing’s wrist. “It’s too bad the policy is one ring per person. Otherwise I could hold your hand or something. Look, I’ll be right behind you. I can swim pretty well myself, so don’t worry.”  
  
Yixing stared at Kris’s hand around his wrist and then at Kris’s face. A slow watery smile trembled on Yixing’s lips. “My hero?” Dimples on both side of his face…    
  
Kris wanted to slam his face against the wall, because Yixing did not just fucking give him such an irresistible come hither expression.

 

 

**Too sneaky, beach**

 

On their way back to the city, Lu Han made an unplanned stop at the beach along the way. Kris suspected he wanted a romantic escapade with the setting sun as the mood setter. While the designated driver of the group was busy sorting out his issues with the sixth member of the team, Tao and Jongdae had immediately hogged the car seats, kicking everyone out. Kris shrugged off the bad treatment by taking out a towel and spread it on the sand, planning to nap, stretched out. His muscles were groaning when he attempted to relax and he was beginning to feel the effects of his sunburned face as if he had run sandpaper across it.

Sometime later after closing his eyes and listening to the soft roars of the seas and the cries of the seagulls, Kris woke up when the sun was low in the horizon, painting the sky a myriad of pink and red. He shifted. None of his limbs could move. Kris raised his head up to see what was wrong. Only to discover a smiling Yixing piling more sand on Kris’s already buried body.

“What are you doing?”

Yixing wiped his hands over his shorts and pulled out his camera. “Cheese~.”

 

 

 


End file.
